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By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: We have no right to be self-righteous over riots in U.S.

Jun 1, 2020 | 4:34 AM

KAMLOOPS — YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED a difference between the protests across the country in the U.S. over the past several days, and protests here at home. After the death of a man named George Floyd during an arrest in Minneapolis, protests broke out in that city as well as places like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle. Peaceful dissent soon turned into rioting and looting.

There have also been protests in Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, Calgary and Vancouver, partly in sympathy for the death of George Floyd, partly over the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet, a woman who fell to her death from a Toronto apartment during a police incident last Wednesday.

The difference is that the protests in Canada lacked the violence and mayhem of those south of the border. There have been a few clashes but protesters here even observed social distancing rules, at least to some extent.

It’s times like these we appreciate where we live, but we shouldn’t be too sanctimonious about it. We’re fully capable of collective lawlessness. I’m thinking, for example, of the Stanley Cup riot.

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On June 15, 2011, the Boston Bruins defeated the Vancouver Canucks in the seventh game of the cup finals. Canucks fans went berserk. Vehicles were flipped over, fires were set, people were hurt.

At the end of it all, 887 charges were laid against more than 300 people.

It wasn’t even our first hockey riot. Vancouver also had one in 1994, and there have been others in Edmonton and Montreal. And in 1972, Rolling Stones fans rioted after a concert at Pacific Coliseum. The year before, there was the Gastown riot.

These things are often initiated by opportunistic agitators, and it’s never right. But if we can be prodded into mass violence over hockey playoffs and rock concerts, we have no right to be self-righteous when it happens elsewhere stemming from something that actually matters, like police brutality and racism.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.